


Coffee (and tea) Break

by eilhao



Series: hope's oneshots uwu (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Baristas, Coffee Shops, Crack, Crack Relationships, Fluff, M/M, Platonic Relationships, Some Humor, and bring eternal chaos uwu, barista! Renjun, barista! jaemin, both switch drinks, fluff at the end!, jaem's battery acid coffee is there, jaemin is a coffee lover, mark is the assistant manager of the cafe uwu, renjun is a tea lover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:41:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26836093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eilhao/pseuds/eilhao
Summary: Na Jaemin, a coffee barista and certified coffee addict, and Huang Renjun, a tea barista and certified tea lover, challenge each other to swap their drinks and taste them. What will be their reaction?
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Na Jaemin
Series: hope's oneshots uwu (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1957507
Kudos: 22





	Coffee (and tea) Break

It was a lovely Saturday afternoon in Neo Cafe. Lunchtime had arrived and customers were entering the café to buy their special lunch boxes served with coffee or tea on the side. The strong aroma of coffee and the sweet, herbaceous smell of chamomile wafted throughout the place.

The Neo cafe was in close proximity to a hotspot of enterprises; making most of the customers to be company workers. Crisp suits and pressed skirts were common attire seen inside. 

There were always some student customers, too. They go to the café to study, chat, or play board games provided by the café.

As the baristas served their last customers before they end lunch hour, Jaemin elbowed Renjun, who was infusing tea bags and preparing matcha. Renjun looked at him with annoyance. “What the hell do you want, Nana?”

“I just thought of something,” Jaemin smirked, wiggling his eyebrows.

Renjun knew this look only meant trouble. He sighed. “What is it this time?”

“Well,” Jaemin began, “I don’t drink tea, you don’t drink coffee. So why not swap our drinks and try it?”

The tea barista slammed his hands on the countertop, making Jaemin flinch. “You are mad,” he snapped.

Mark, the cafe’s assistant manager, entered the scene after he made the last frappe, in absence of Donghyuck, who’s at the bathroom, for lunch hour. He figured he’d check on the two baristas supposedly making tea and coffee for the customers.

“Aren’t you both supposed to be working? The customers are waiting,” he reprimanded.

“Mark-sunbaenim, Jaemin here is disrupting my work,” Renjun countered.

Jaemin defended himself with, “Sunbaenim, I was just asking Injun if he wants to switch drinks, like he tries coffee while I try tea.”

“But you’re still interrupting me.”

“I just asked you a question!”

Mark huffed as the two began to bicker. It’s not a bad idea; if the two try different drinks that are out of their comfort zone it would enhance their taste buds and make them more well-rounded baristas. 

“Renjun! Jaemin! Listen to me right now.”

Both halted their bickering. Mark cleared his throat and spoke. “I don’t see any harm in Jaemin’s idea. There’s nothing wrong with trying right?”

Jaemin smiled triumphantly while Renjun looked like he was facing his demise. 

Good luck to him.

  
  
  


———

  
  
  


The last customer for lunch hour had been served. Mark announced to his crew to take a thirty-minute break. Jaemin gave Renjun a smug look before getting to work on his specialty: his battery acid coffee.

An Americano with six extra espresso shots. Neo Cafe’s crew called it “battery acid” because of its sheer power and destruction. For instance, one of the baristas, Jeno, took a sip and didn’t sleep for a day and a half.

Renjun silently prayed for his health, soul, and sanity. He would’ve never agreed to Jaemin’s antics if Mark hadn’t gotten involved. 

He brewed some green tea leaves in a kettle and prepared a pomegranate puree and honey. One of his favorite drinks is pomegranate and green tea with a bit of honey for sweetness. The smell of tea calmed Renjun’s nerves. 

The coffee barista was almost done. He only needed to add ice, meanwhile, Renjun’s green tea finished brewing. He poured the pomegranate puree until it reached one-fourth of the cup. Then he poured the tea in and drizzled some honey. He added ice as a final touch, mirroring Jaemin.

“Alright Nana, I made you my favorite drink: green tea with pomegranate and honey. Don’t expect much sweetness in here ‘cause I prefer to let the natural taste of the tea remain the focus.” Renjun presented the drink in front of Jaemin on the countertop.

“Here’s my special battery acid coffee, americano with extra six shots of espresso. Hope you enjoy!” Jaemin exclaimed.

_Hope you enjoy,_ he said. Yeah Renjun will enjoy, enjoy the ride to hell; or perhaps, the end of his sanity.

Jaemin was top two on Renjun’s “to beat” list. Don’t ask who’s first, it’s obviously Donghyuck. That guy annoys him the most.

Speaking of which, Donghyuck, Mark, Jeno, Yangyang, and Shotaro have arrived to witness the show. 

“Everyone, we’re witnessing an epic event where tea barista and tea drinker, Huang Renjun, and coffee barista and coffee drinker, Na Jaemin, switch drinks and give their reactions!” Donghyuck spoke like he’s a commentator of a sports game while holding a ramen cup. 

“Why did you agree to this Renjun? You’ll regret it,” Jeno asked in disbelief, munching his onigiri.

“Look,” Renjun tried to explain himself, “Mark-hyung wants me to explore different flavors or tastes, or something like that.”

“Ohhh, Mark Lee! So, this is your fault,” Donghyuck teased.

Mark glared at the younger. “Honorifics!”

“Back to the topic!”

Yangyang piped up, “Bet Renjun will do a spit-take! Jaemin, too, probably.”

“Uh, guys?” Shotaro piped up, looking around the cafe. “Can we continue this in the employee’s room? The customers don’t look too happy.” Just then, he accidentally made eye-contact with a particularly annoyed customer.

The assistant manager turned to the customers and bowed apologetically. “I’m sorry for the noise we caused, you may continue eating.”

They all filed into the employee’s room to continue their shenanigans.

  
  
  


———

  
  
  


After they switched their drinks, the tea barista opened the lid of the battery acid coffee and inhaled the scent. His nose crinkled at the strong smell of caffeine and wanted to vomit. Meanwhile, Jaemin punched the straw in and mixed the puree and honey before drinking. 

He took a sip and gargled the drink like mouthwash, his facial expressions clearly stated he doesn’t like it. He has never tasted anything as bland as tea. Jaemin swallowed it and gave his comment.

“I barely taste the sweetness, it’s just leaf water.”

Renjun was about to lunge at the coffee barista, good thing Jeno and Mark were there to block him. He fumed, “What do you mean by leaf water?! I literally just told you it wasn’t gonna be sweet!”

“Renjun calm down! Just drink yours so we can go back to work,” Mark spoke.

The tea barista took a deep breath before punching the straw to the lid and took a sip of the battery acid coffee. 

The bitterness hit Renjun’s taste buds like a truck. He immediately placed the cup down after swallowing the bitter coffee. He knew it was going to be bitter, but nothing could have prepared him for this intensity.

“W-water.”

Shotaro ran to grab a cup of water while Renjun suffered, literally. 

Once Shotaro returned with the water, Renjun hastily took it and drank until it was empty. “That’s the worst drink I’ve ever tasted. How could you handle the bitterness, Nana?” 

Jaemin merely shrugged.

“I think we should go back to work, we’ve been inside this room long enough,” Yangyang spoke.

All nodded in agreement. They fixed themselves and headed back to work.

  
  
  


\------

  
  
  


The last customer finally left the cafe. Jeno and Yangyang covered the cups, utensils, and plates, Renjun cleaned the machines and countertops, Jaemin and Donghyuck arranged the chairs and tables, Shotaro swept the floor, and Mark counted the money they earned today. It was indeed a tiring day, but worth it, cause they witnessed Renjun and Jaemin switch drinks, and the reactions were priceless.

All gathered outside and waited for Mark to close the cafe. Jeno took the opportunity to tease Renjun. “Good luck, Injun. Your sleep will be ruined.”

Everyone laughed except for Renjun, of course. He wants to prove them wrong. It’s just a sip, his and Jeno’s systems are different, right?

“Shut up, Jeno. I can sleep through this.” Renjun was confident enough with his statement.

But boy was he wrong.

The next morning, he stormed in the cafe, looking for a specific person who goes by the name Na Jaemin.

“Na Jaemin! Get your ass over here!” he thundered.

“Woah there, Huang. Isn’t it too early to fight?” Donghyuck tried to calm the tea barista, but to no avail.

He barged in the employee’s room and there stood Jaemin, who was wearing his apron and uniform. Jaemin was puzzled as to why Renjun looked like he was about to explode on a Sunday morning. 

“Renjun?”

“Jaemin you are so fucking dead!”

He grabbed the collar of the barista’s shirt and held it tight, “I couldn’t fucking sleep the whole night because of your battery acid coffee. I tried to close my eyes but nope, eyes still wide open, all because of your coffee.”

Mark burst into the room to break up the feud. “You two stop fighting. Renjun, get your hands off of from Jaemin.”

Renjun complied with Mark’s orders. He let go of Jaemin’s shirt collar and took a deep breath. Once he came back to his senses, he noticed Jaemin was trembling. 

“I’m sorry, Nana. I didn’t mean to frighten you. I got carried away.”

Jaemin smiled, “It’s okay Renjun, I should be apologizing to you cause I forced you into this. Hug time!”

He pulled Renjun into a tight, warm hug. They pulled away after a minute and stared at each other before breaking into laughter. 

“I will still annoy you though.” Jaemin’s lips curved into a smug smile.

“Fuck you Nana!”

“Love you too, now let me make a warm cup of tea for you!”

“You don’t even know how to make one!”

“Teach me then.”

“Fine.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading this, dont be afraid to leave kudos and comments! follow my [ twitter ](https://twitter.com/rxtrohope) and ask questions on my [ cc ](https://curiouscat.qa/rxtrohope)


End file.
